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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: bulb · sharp · fan · toast · land · patient · clip · cold

  1. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  2. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  3. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. The light ________________ burned out.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. I've got to change the light ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  22. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Can you turn the ________________ on?

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. toast — bread
  3. toast — a drink to someone
  4. clip — for paper
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. bulb — for light
  7. land — ground
  8. clip — a video
  9. sharp — clever
  10. land — a country
  11. toast — the most admired
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. land — to come down
  16. clip — to cut
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. bulb — for light
  20. cold — an illness
  21. bulb — of a plant
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. cold — not warm
  24. fan — to cool the air

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com